Elk Meadows Backpacking Trip with Sam

Published on 10/28/2007

[Note] I wrote the following almost exactly a month ago, but just finally finished writing all the captions for the slideshow so I could post it.

As I'm starting to write this I'm hanging out with my friend Phil at a newly discovered 24 hour coffee shop in Beaverton called Ava Roasteria There are a couple of people here playing live music and the place is packed. I have a theory that at least in the current cultural climate in Portland if you start up a coffee shop and want to be successful, keep it open all night and it will always be full. Every place I've seen around here that has gone 24 hours does really well, not only when everything else is closed but all day. There's just something about knowing you aren't gonna get kicked out at some closing time that makes me want to always go to these places. So, anyway, it's nice to have another place to hang out late at night, even though it's on the west side. ;)

Okay, so, back to the topic at hand... My friend Sam and I went on a backpacking trip last weekend to a spot called Elk Meadows on Mt. Hood. It was the first visit there for both of us, and I think it's safe to say that we both had a great time. We got sort of a late start, part intentionally; we worked the first half of the day before meeting at his place around 12:30 or 1:00pm on Friday afternoon. After making a few stops including lunch in Hood River, we arrived at the trailhead at Pollalie Campground at around 4:00pm or so. The lateness of our start really affected our plans, but I think for the better. Because of how quickly the sun was setting we ended up stopping for the night at a pretty cool camping spot right by the creek and then hiked out to the meadows and back the next day with just water, Cliff Bars and my camera. We weren't sure about the decision at the time, but after seeing what sites were available between there and the meadows, we definitely made a great choice. At the meadows we had some great views of Mt. Hood, and on the way back from camp to the trailhead we took a detour to check out Tamanawas Falls which was pretty neat. It was a great trip overall. I'll save the details for the slideshow, though, so check that out here.